No Way Out
by Grand Phoenix
Summary: They tell her she can never fly again, that her ambition will be her undoing. She will prove them wrong. No matter what it takes, the sky will belong to her again. [Sequel to All Falls Down, read it first]


**Disclaimer:** All characters and locations belong to their respective owners.

_A/N: Yes, this again. Yes, it will be finished. This time, it won't go away. Enjoy!_

* * *

**NO WAY OUT**

* * *

"_Such a beautiful face,  
__Such a beautiful waste, I say.  
__Just when you think I'm lost you found your way.  
__That little angel on my shoulder says  
__Not to do those things you did.  
__That little angel on my shoulder screams  
_'_I think I lost my way!'_

"_So take your thoughts and run away  
__From a god who ain't much of a know-it-all.  
__So follow me and hold your breath again 'til I say when.  
__DID I SAY WHEN?"_

"No Way Out", sung by Theory of a Deadman

* * *

**I.  
Where Yo Head At?  
**

"Nanoha, goddamn it, you're going to kill yourself!"

They're training in one of the garages of an old military base abandoned and cordoned from the public. Records scrounged from the Infinity Library date this place back to the years after the Belkan War, when the Mid-Childan government was fast becoming the dominant planetary force and mass-based weaponry was not yet outlawed. The base is a rather spacious area, containing vast stretches of runways and helipads now fallen to disrepair. It's the perfect place to teach her young friend the basic exercises in sorcery.

But not like this. Vita didn't expect Nanoha to take advantage of her freedom like _this_.

"Stop movin' around and drop down NOW!"

Nanoha…Vita knows how she got that way, but at the same time doesn't understand _why_. A year ago she'd been working on her studies, manipulating mana inside the body and out, planning live combat strategies, going through mandatory drills with handicaps that would make the toughest soldier frustrated. A year ago she'd taken her condition in stride.

But this isn't the past; this is the present, this is now, and Nanoha Takamachi – thirteen and officially a teenager – is changing into a person nobody expected her to become. Not just a dumbass, Vita thinks bitterly, but a jackass who refuses to listen to her superiors.

They should have watched her more closely, Shamal and Mary. They should have put a tracking device on the little git's ankle, wrist, wherever they put those ability limiters. They should have put some tranquilizer in it, something quick, something that would hinder her Linker Core even more (maybe a spot next to that tiny, lonely shard of metal, give it company on those sleepless, restless nights), but Vita's never heard of an ability limiter that could do such a thing. Vita's been out of the loop on current technology for the hundreds of cycles she's been sealed away in that blasted book.

She sure as hell wishes she had that kind of tech on her hands. If she had known Nanoha was going to attempt _flying_ the moment Shamal gave Hayate the go-ahead to release the limiter, then…!

Nanoha activates Axel Fin and rockets away from the Knight, back to the wind and Raging Heart aimed. The incantation for Divine Shoot goes unheard above the roar, but nonetheless the mana streams form and home in on her. Vita growls and channels magic to her feet; it provides her a boost that propels her at the Earthling like a cannonball.

Drawing closer and closer, she can see the girl's infuriating scowl conquering her face.

Vita didn't like being rough with the kid. She didn't want to have to blaze through another round of shot-based spells, get up in Nanoha's personal space, ram Graf Eisen's head against her chest and knock her back to the runway like a golf ball. She didn't want to do any of that.

But then Vita remembers she doesn't give a fuck, hasn't felt the need to give a fuck since Nanoha began defying orders five months and some days after she was able to walk again and released from the hospital. And as she tackles Nanoha to the ground and straddles her, she tells herself she shouldn't care.

"EISEN!" she cries, and with an affirmative from the Device slams it to the concrete, right above Nanoha's head. A well of mana flares around them then dissipates after a few seconds in a flutter of sparking residue. They clamp down on the girl's wrists, waist, and ankles as soon as they touch the ground.

Nanoha tries to lift Raging Heart, thrashing against her bonds. Vita's free hand latches a fistful of the kid's hair and yanks her head back, stares into angry pools of blue. "Fuckin' moron!" she yells. "The hell kind of game you trying to play at? You can't fly! Those are Hayate's orders!"

"To hell…with orders!" Nanoha forces through gritted teeth. "I'll be whatever I want to be! I don't need anyone…telling me what to do with my life, 'specially Hayate!"

"_Go ahead! Go ahead and kill yourself! Let me help you out!" _Then Vita slams the girl's head against the pavement, and does it again and again and she wants to keep on going at it until there's brain matter gumming up under her fingernails, blood on her hands, and pieces of broken bone sticking to auburn locks and a pale white forehead.

But somewhere deep down inside, so deep you'd have to sink a submersible twenty-thousand leagues to get there, Vita does give a fuck about Nanoha. She gives a fuck about the shit the kid endured during the surgeries and the physical therapy. She gives a fuck about the metal trapped in her Linker Core and all the things Nanoha wants to do but now can't because a stupid fucking shard from a stupid fucking drone had to find its way through soft, unyielding flesh and make all the dreams and aspirations come undone like a spider web meeting the ass end of a feather duster.

It takes all her willpower, but after the fourth time Vita lets go of Nanoha and stares at the river of blood dribbling down her brow. She sits still, listens for the rise and fall of breathing, and when she can't feel the girl's frame stir she begins to panic. Vita's hands fly and touch the pulse on the Earthling's neck. It's faint, but it's there. It's there.

The Knight sits up and cranes her neck back to stare past the overcast sky. She's only unconscious, Vita tells herself. She's only unconscious.

Vita wonders if Nanoha intended for this to happen.

She hopes not.

* * *

"How does it look, Shamal?" Nanoha asks a few minutes later, waking up with her back to the pristine plaster walls of the infirmary and a bitch of a headache between her eyes. As an afterthought, she tacks on in a snarky tone, imitating a Swedish brogue: "Is this the end of poor ole me?"

"You'll live to see another day," says the blonde-haired doctor, dabbing a sterile wipe on the cut, "but I wish you'd be more careful. Next time Vita may not be so forgiving."

"I can take her on. I could take on Signum blow for blow if I wanted to."

"Not in your condition you won't. Vita told me you were flying at full speed, when Hayate specifically told you not to. _Especially_ after the ability limiter was taken off."

"_You_ told _me_ I could never fly again," the brunette counters testily. "_You_ were the one who released the lock. Did you think I wouldn't try in the least?"

Shamal crosses her arms. "I was thinking you had the common sense not to do so, but it appears I've been proven wrong."

"I won't stay grounded. Shard or no shard, I'm going to be in the sky. I won't let anyone hold me back."

"I admire your tenacity, Nanoha, but you and I know better than anyone else it's not going to happen. You've seen the X-rays, the test results of your physicals; if you fly, there's a chance the damage you take during simulated combat will push the shard even deeper into your body and rupture your Linker Core. It may even block the flow of the coronary arteries and cause a myocardial infarction."

"A what?"

"A heart attack. Maybe sudden cardiac death, if you continue to pursue this reckless behavior. The last thing I want to do is be the coroner of your autopsy."

"Then don't. Let some random white-coat make the calls—_ah!_" Nanoha grimaces and clutches at her chest. "No, not again, please don't start," she murmurs under her breath.

Shamal sighs. "This is why we want you to listen, Nanoha. Do you want your condition to worsen?"

"No…."

"Then please, for my sake and everyone else, don't give in to temptation. I would hate to see Fate and Hayate fret because you were being stubborn. I understand how you feel."

Nanoha tilts her head to the ceiling lights and closes her eyes. "No, you don't. You don't know what I'm going through."

"You're right. I can't imagine what it feels like, going day to day with a piece of metal that can never be removed. I can put myself in your shoes, but I can't be you. It's not possible."

"I don't need your sympathy," Nanoha mumbles. "Don't need anyone's."

"I'll give it to you anyway, because I'm your friend and friends watch out for each other…even the foolish ones."

Nanoha barks a single rough laugh. "Having my skull cracked open by a midget isn't what I call looking out for each other. It's bull, Shamal. So much bull…stupid heart, stop beating so fast. I can't keep up."

"Lay down, Nanoha." Shamal eases the girl on the table, puts a hand over her eyes. "Go to sleep. It'll go away. Relax."

"That's what she said," the mage giggles, and it's a dry sound like fingernails scratching on sandpaper. "Relax and vanquish all thought. Close your eyes and forget. I'm a natural at this, you know that? I'm a-freaking-mazing."

"That's wonderful, Nanoha." Shamal presses her fingers to the girl's brow, mentally traces the reddened cut that will undoubtedly scar for years to come. "I'm happy for you."

(She makes a beautiful liar.)


End file.
